– We assume that as the production capabilities of AvtoVAZ are restored, new cars appear at Motorinvest, Moskvich at Avtoframos, and so on, gradually more and more new cars will appear on the market, – said Mr. Manturov, commenting on on claims that the trough of Russian car production was passed in May 2022.

Recall that Rosstat previously announced that last spring, auto production in Russia collapsed 96.7% year-on-year – to 3,720 units. And in January-May, the country produced 56.4% fewer passenger cars than a year earlier – just 268,000 units. We also note that the new Moscow owners of Avtoframos have not yet really decided even on the type of cars that are theoretically planned to be produced under the Moskvich brand.

Observers tend to believe that its production will at best be limited to the assembly of Chinese cars. And the electric vehicles heralded as Motorinvest’s products will be able to occupy only a modest niche of city cars in the Russian market anyway. And yet, in addition to not understanding the reasons for optimism about the recovery of production in the auto industry, Manturov told RIA Novosti that prices for new cars in Russia are about to fall:

— If we remember February’s rate and compare it with today’s, it differs significantly — twice. Therefore, in order not to incur losses, companies will begin to smoothly stretch the price change throughout the year, taking into account the gradual recovery of the market, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is certain.

He thinks cars will become more accessible. Since it will reportedly become unprofitable for car manufacturers to maintain high prices because in this case there will be no demand for cars. Meanwhile, the problem of the lack of components for the auto industry, which basically caused vehicle production in the country to collapse, has not yet been resolved and there is no way out of this situation in the near future. For this reason alone, Manturov’s assurances that the domestic auto industry is on the verge of operating as before and car prices will fall, seem highly questionable.

– We assume that as the production capabilities of AvtoVAZ are restored, new cars appear at Motorinvest, Moskvich at Avtoframos, and so on, gradually more and more new cars will appear on the market, – said Mr. Manturov, commenting on on claims that the trough of Russian car production was passed in May 2022.

Recall that Rosstat previously announced that last spring, auto production in Russia collapsed 96.7% year-on-year – to 3,720 units. And in January-May, the country produced 56.4% fewer passenger cars than a year earlier – just 268,000 units. We also note that the new Moscow owners of Avtoframos have not yet really decided even on the type of cars that are theoretically planned to be produced under the Moskvich brand.

Observers tend to believe that its production will at best be limited to the assembly of Chinese cars. And the electric vehicles heralded as Motorinvest’s products will be able to occupy only a modest niche of city cars in the Russian market anyway. And yet, in addition to not understanding the reasons for optimism about the recovery of production in the auto industry, Manturov told RIA Novosti that prices for new cars in Russia are about to fall:

— If we remember February’s rate and compare it with today’s, it differs significantly — twice. Therefore, in order not to incur losses, companies will begin to smoothly stretch the price change throughout the year, taking into account the gradual recovery of the market, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is certain.

He thinks cars will become more accessible. Since it will reportedly become unprofitable for car manufacturers to maintain high prices because in this case there will be no demand for cars. Meanwhile, the problem of the lack of components for the auto industry, which basically caused the vehicle production to collapse in the country, has not yet been solved and there is no way out of this situation in the near future. For this reason alone, Manturov’s assurances that the domestic auto industry is about to start operating as before and auto prices will fall seems highly questionable.